書里藏著兩雙手

畢淑敏

本書英文譯者朱虹老師的手，溫?zé)岫�柔軟。真是難以相信，這樣一雙看似普通的手，寫過(guò)大量極有創(chuàng)見(jiàn)的英美文學(xué)評(píng)論。尤其是用準(zhǔn)確簡(jiǎn)練又不乏幽默的筆觸，將大量中國(guó)文學(xué)翻譯成英文，并得到英語(yǔ)世界主流文學(xué)界的贊賞與認(rèn)同，她的翻譯還不止一次成為博士論文的課題。

朱紅老師由衷熱愛(ài)翻譯事業(yè)，一直兢兢業(yè)業(yè)，她以英語(yǔ)的思維，追求神似而非形似的翻譯風(fēng)格，不是亦步亦趨地簡(jiǎn)單直譯，而是在力求準(zhǔn)確的同時(shí)，不失靈性和變通，嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)中飽含風(fēng)趣，讓讀者領(lǐng)會(huì)更加原汁原味的英文，體會(huì)純正的英語(yǔ)之美。這樣一位聲震海內(nèi)外的翻譯大家，怎么會(huì)在84 周歲的耄耋之年，翻譯我的這本小書呢？

她的初心，是為了留給自己的孫女們一件精致雋遠(yuǎn)的禮物，便傾注了滿腔心血來(lái)做這件事。譯文反復(fù)推敲修改，精益求精，達(dá)到感人至深的地步。

她老人家原想只把此書作為自家的珍寶，親人相傳。不想此譯稿被天地出版社得到，將它出版，于是更多的讀者也有了珍藏它的機(jī)緣。

文字之中，也藏著我的一雙手。我這雙手，沒(méi)什么特殊，只是指掌比較大。當(dāng)年我做外科醫(yī)生的時(shí)候，如果第二天有我出臺(tái)做手術(shù)，護(hù)士長(zhǎng)會(huì)特別叮囑準(zhǔn)備手術(shù)器械的新護(hù)士說(shuō)，一般女醫(yī)生的手套6 號(hào)半到7 號(hào)即可，畢醫(yī)生要用7 號(hào)半的大手套。

現(xiàn)在上了點(diǎn)年紀(jì)，因長(zhǎng)年寫作，多個(gè)手指發(fā)炎變粗，估計(jì)再要去做手術(shù)，沒(méi)準(zhǔn)要用8 號(hào)

的手套了。

說(shuō)完了手，說(shuō)說(shuō)我的心意吧。我向你保證，書中文字，都是我秉著當(dāng)年執(zhí)手術(shù)時(shí)的責(zé)任感，以治病救人為無(wú)尚光榮的醫(yī)生之德鄭重寫下，力求它們傳達(dá)暖意和富有力量。

感謝天地出版社編輯們的辛勤勞動(dòng)。

親愛(ài)的讀者，這樣流暢美好伏貼而生動(dòng)幽默的英文譯本，真是難得的寶貝。趕緊把它收

藏起來(lái)吧。

我和朱虹老師的手，藏在書中，等著和你打招呼呢！

Two Pairs of Hands Hidden in a Book

Bi Shumin

The hands of Zhu Hong, the translator of this volume of stories, are soft and warm.

It is hard to imagine that this pair of hands had written articles on English and American literature with sharp critical acumen.

More amazing is the fact that Zhu Hong had translated outstanding works of Chinese literature into English. Her translations, precise, succinct, sometimes with a dash of humor thrown in, have been approved of and accepted in the Englishspeaking world of academia, while at home they have more than once served as topics for Ph.D theses.

Zhu Hong works hard and is deeply devoted to her chosen field. True to her ideal of translation not as a mere formation of words but as a means of imparting the spirit of the original, Zhu Hongs works of translation have managed to offer her readers a taste of the English language in all its beauty and flexibility.

Now why did this famed master of translation, at the venerable age of eighty-four, bother to translate these short stories of mine? It turned out that Zhu Hong had planned to translate this collection of my stories as a gift to all her granddaughters, a gift to be handed down as an heirloom within the family. Thus she threw herself into the job of translation, sweating over every word in pursuit of perfection. However, the project was discovered by Tiandi Press, and thus destined to be released for a larger readership.

My own two hands are also hidden in the text of this book. There is nothing special about my hands, except that it is larger than the usual for women of my age. Back in those days when I was a surgeon and whenever there was a surgery planned for the next day, the nurse in charge of surgical instruments would always order gloves of size 7.5, explaining to her staff that size 67 was the usual for women doctors, but that Doctor Bi Shumin needed

7.5!

By now, I have added some years to my age, not to mention having spent those years writing nonstop, and most of my fingers are swollen with inflammation. If I am to perform surgery now, I guess I will need size 8 gloves.

Now that we have dealt with hands, let us move on to the heart.

Let me assure you, readers: every word here in the book is sprung from my sense of responsibility as a practicing surgeon. All of them were written down conscientiously, word by word, out of a sense of pride in being a doctor dedicated to saving lives, and were all written in the hope that those words, imbued with strength, would send out warmth!

Many thanks to the editorial staff of Tiandi Press for their hard work!

Dear readers, with such smooth flowing English, faithful to the original, bubbling with humor, such a book is a rare acquisition. Snatch it!

My hands and Zhu Hongs handsare hidden inside the book, waiting to greet you!